The Providence of Fire

"The conspiracy to destroy the ruling family of the Annurian Empire is far from over. Having learned the identity of her father's assassin, Adare flees the Dawn Palace is search of allies to challenge the coup against her family. Few trust her, but when she is believed to be touched by Intarra, patron goddess of the empire, people rally to help her retake the capital city. As armies prepare to clash, the threat of invasion from barbarian hordes compels the rival forces to unite against their common enemy. Unknown to Adare, her brother Valyn, renegade member of the empire's most elite fighting force, has allied with the invading nomads. The terrible choices each of them has made may make war between them inevitable. Between Valyn and Adare is their brother Kaden, rightful heir to the Unhewn Throne, who has infiltrated the Annurian capital with the help of two strange companions. The knowledge they possess of the secret history that shapes these events could save Annur or destroy it"-- Provided by publisher.

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CHARACTERS: This book is the sequel to Stavely’s “The Emperor’s Blades.” Read it first. … The characters are lively as ever. They experience hardship and loss, and new important characters are introduced. Kaden, after experiencing betrayal and the vaniate now has to worry about his father’s empire and his siblings. Adare has to deal with Ran Il Tornja, the commander and general that seeks Sanlitun’s throne (and maybe even more. Spoilers. Enough said.) And Valyn has to learn how to deal with enemies in the Kettral Wings.
PLOT: Adare features heavily as she learns to work with/around/against people in the court. Valyn learns that a barbarian invasion is threatening the lands, and Kaden continues to learn about the vaniate and what secrets are hidden in it.
ACCURACY: Again, the world building in this series is incredible, creative, and most importantly, creative. This book, this sequel shows us that what was introduced in the first book still holds true. We learn a LOT more about the Csestriim, including that they aren’t just some sort of cool idea the author had and then didn’t develop.
RECOMMENDATION: If you’ve read “The Emperor’s Blades” and enjoyed that, you have to keep reading. This book is extremely good, with a nice balance of action and politics.